The PRODUCT Blog - Pure Ingredients for Gorgeous Hair

Sticking Around

Barrettes, clips, claws, elastics.  Yawn. 

Sometimes the usual suspects for hair accessories can be a little uninspiring.  Always on the lookout for more intriguing options, I spotted these hair sticks at Lucas Echo Park, part of a collection of implements for up-doing that stylist & colorist Nina Lucas has crafted, called PRIDE. 

These lovely, unique, hand-painted wooden sticks are a welcome alternative to the plastic claw.  Nina instructs that the key to securing your bun, twist or topknot is to make sure the first stick pretty much holds it securely in place - the second stick is "backup."

 

 

 

Mastering the sticks takes a little practice, like any new technique, but I've been using them for everything from low sideswept buns to high knots and relaxed twists - plus I find that when I take my hair down, it has a nicer shape than it usually does after being compressed by an elastic or crimped in a claw.  I'm hooked on these sticks ...

PRIDE by Nina Lucas, available at Lucas Echo Park, in Los Angeles. 

Little Luxuries

There's more than one way to pamper your little ones, and Beautyhabit has plenty of ideas!  LIL PRODUCT shines in this Kids & Baby Spotlight:

Keep it Beautiful

Earth Day is here again - 43 years and counting of celebration and activism to honor and protect the planet we call home. 

Did you know? ...

Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour.  Its orbit around the sun is nearly 600,000,000 miles.  (So, we travel that distance, too, as passengers!)

In its orbit, the earth is tipped at 23.4 degrees; this axis is responsible for our seasons. 

Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. 

Breeze carries about 100 milllion tons of sand particles around the earth yearly. 

About two-thirds of the earth's surface is beneath the ocean. And Google is setting out to map it ...

PRODUCT is keeping it beautiful this Earth Day with a discount in the PRODUCT store - save 22% on any order by using promo code OURPLANET (ends 5/15/12).

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2012!

To Live and Groom in L.A.

It takes a lot of charisma to stand out in Tinseltown.  Ask Emily Wagner, actress, writer, artist and blogger (and Vassar graduate).  Groomed L.A. is where Emily shares her passion for all the accoutrements of living a Los Angeles lifestyle.  As a 'Beauty Concierge,' she connects seekers with the right professional stylists and treatments.  As an on-air beauty and lifestyle expert and consultant, she predicts and evaluates trends with uncanny precision. 

It is no surprise that a multi-tasker of this level would appreciate the versatile, yet simple, PRODUCT pomade for hair.  This from Groomed-LA.com:

"Out of the zillions of complicated hair styling products out there, we’ve found one that stands out for its brilliant simplicity ... A little goes a long way ... After quenching my super dry ends, I simply massaged the rest into my hands and cuticles, and - voila! - I left the house with soft mitts and great looking hair."

Click here to read contributor Amelia Glynn's Groomed-LA.com review of PRODUCT pomade for hair, and to see the latest and loveliest from the City of Angels.

Portland Gets a Lucas

Nylon Magazine is the first to scoop the opening of Lucas Portland - before the new salon even has a phone number it's been included in the pages of the July Music Issue (on newstands now). 

The reason being:  Taylor Lucas, owner and stylist, has a gift for fostering good vibes that act as a magnet to creative types, musicians included.  Nylon mentions some notable ones as frequent guests at the  original Lucas, in L.A.'s Echo Park.  And as Lucas herself states, her mission with the Portland space is to make everyone feel at home.  "I just want it to be welcoming," she says, "Like come-in-and-take-a-nap welcoming." 

Amenities will include freshly brewed Stumptown coffee, and special events and curated shopping are in development.  We miss having Taylor all to ourselves here in L.A., but are thrilled to congratulate her on the opening of Lucas Portland. 

UPDATE:

Lucas Portland is officially open as of August!  You can find info online at http://lucas--lucas.com or call 503-894-8169. 

Best Coast

Fresh from the Urban Outfitters blog comes an interview with Lana Kim, an exec producer for music videos here in Los Angeles who also hosts 'The Lana Show,' where she hangs out with musicians like Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy), Moby and Blonde Redhead ...

Sharing her favorite haunts in the City of Angels, Lana singles out Lucas Hair Salon in Echo Park, saying, "It's like 'Barber Shop' the movie!  Except with women.  I stop by to say hi and talk, even if I'm not getting my hair done."  (Another fabuluous thing about Lucas Echo Park - you can get PRODUCT there ...)

See the rest of Lana's L.A. List, view 'The Lana Show' or check out her joint blog with sibling Ely, who lives in NY, called 'The Rivalry.'  Ms. Kim describes the brother-sister blog "a visual conversation" between the two of them - a peek into their worlds on opposite coasts (and a bit of a competition to see whose posts get the most interest) ...

2010 - The Year of Safe Cosmetics?

Southern California public radio show AirTalk hosted a debate last week (click here to listen) on the merits of proposed legislation to increase transparency in the cosmetics and personal care industry - The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. 

For many years now, advocates for public safety and health have questioned the level of regulation and testing that commonly used personal products like lotions, cosmetics, hair dyes, nail polish and more are subject to.

Environmental Working Group has created an ingredient information database for mass market brands, called  the 'Skin Deep' Cosmetic Safety Database, which is aimed at arming the public with details about what's in our most commonly used personal care products. The hope of legislators introducing the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 is to lift the veil (some would say close the loophole) that allows beauty industry manufacturers to omit trace or inactive ingredients from labeling. In addition, the legislation would require personal care products to be tested for contamination, and to verify accuracy of ingredients disclosure and efficacy claims.

Last week's on-air discussion of the cosmetics regulation issue involved Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author. Her beauty guide, Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, was recommended on the Today Show's web site as one of six 'green reads' along with heavy environmental hitters like The Lazy Environmentalist and Cradle to Cradle. 

Malkan responded to callers' questions about ingredients like sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate, and their curiosity about whether more expensive products are actually more effective. In her opinion, many of high-end brands' effectiveness claims are just so much smoke and mirrors - in reality the benefits across price points are pretty much stable. Malkan suggested choosing products with simple formulations to limit exposure to unknowns and 'unlisteds' like mercury, lead, coal tar and the myriad of chemicals in the ingredient generically listed as 'fragrance.'

Malkan's sparring partner on the subject of HR 5786 was John E. Bailey, Ph.D., who is currently, after a more than decade-long stint at the EPA, Chief Scientist for the Personal Care Products Council. PCPC is lobbying hard against the proposed cosmetics legislation and arguing that its passage would be damaging to small business and to innovation in the industry.

Take a listen to what Malkan and Bailey had to say, and see what you think ...  When state and local representatives head back to Washington this fall, we'll be watching for developments on this potentially eye-opening legislation.

(Photo: House Of Sims/Flickr)

How Sweet It Is

LIL PRODUCT, our hair pomade for young people, is now available at Thread & Sugar Salon in Fresno, CA!

Thread & Sugar is the salon for you if you're looking to smooth out without experiencing chemical overload.  This eco-friendly haven is a place where stylists employ ancient eastern methods of threading for brow grooming and sugaring for more extensive hair removal.  Plus they've got mani/pedi's on offer, as well as Henna (Mehndi) and makeup artistry services. 

Serious about being "the only organic and natural salon in the Central Valley," Thread & Sugar is specific about what it doesn't allow in its domain - from their site's Philosophy page:

We do not use products that contain the following harmful ingredients: parabens, phthalates, sulfates, formaldehyde, petrochemicals, petroleum, mineral oil, talc, artifical dyes or colors, animal products, and other preservatives or ingredients.  Our salon is also cleaned and maintained only with eco-friendly and organic cleaning products.   We use recycled paper for our retail bags, business cards and brochures.  And our air is constantly filtered to remove any dust, debris, mold, bacteria, viruses, and allergens.

Bamboo towels, clean spaces and a welcoming attitude make Thread & Sugar the kind of place LIL PRODUCT is happy to be calling home!

Hooray for Hollywood

Your Daily Thread, L.A.'s online resource for all things green, sustainable and local, spotlights curly hair care in today's Beauty and Wellness guide.  Guess what made the list?!

YDT's editors tested & loved PRODUCT pomade, and they've got a special promo code for the PRODUCT online store that you don't want to miss ... 

Curly girls & guys rejoice - eco-friendly summer style is made simple with YDT's crop of green hair care favorites!

Fashion FAST Forward

Image is a top priority for Angelenos.  This is Hollywood, after all - the town from which style is disseminated via celebrities to be dissected by the media.  Looking put-together without appearing to try too hard is a talent at which guys & girls here in the Southland excel.  

Young adults are the engine that drives fashion innovation and experimentation, so PRODUCT was thrilled to be asked by F A S T (Fashion and Student Trends), a group of UCLA fashion afficionados and innovators, to participate in gift bags for their annual fashion show, staging May 26. 

Since 2001, F A S T has produced fresh designs and given aspiring models a chance to 'walk the walk' in their annual style extravaganzas.  2010's theme is "Catalyst" and F A S T is making that theme a reality by collecting clothing at the event to benefit the Los Angeles non-profit Food on Foot.  Helping homeless men & women transition into housing and employment, and also providing them with meals and other assistance, Food on Foot is creating change in the lives of the most vulnerable segment of our city's population. 

Because it's not just about appearances - it's also about what you do to make a difference ...